After yesterday's jaw-dropping announcement, Simon played the latest Zelda to see if anything could actually live up to the expectation.

Nintendo knows what it's doing. We all laughed at the DS because handheld gaming was dead. We poked fun at the Wii because no one would want to own that console, obviously. Right now someone, somewhere is making a WiiU joke forgetting its probable, yet inexplicable, success will finally give Nintendo enough cash to purchase the sun. It's this logic that sums up A Link To The Past 2. I have no reservations in telling you I revere the original incarnation as one of the finest gaming experiences I've ever played. It's likely that if you were of the right age, you also feel the same way. Nintendo knows this. In fact, it's actively seeking to suck such emotion out.

Since its announcement yesterday you'd be forgiven for not really knowing what path this spiritual sequel would take. You were shown a video, most of which you missed because you were too busy squealing at a small boy in a green hat. Far from being weird - as it would be in any other walk of life - it was a reaction replicated all over the planet. We all recognised those distinguished environments and enemies from the SNES classic and let our emotions take over. Don't be ashamed. I am one of these individuals and I feel no less excited after playing it than I did 24 hours ago. There is a little more to the situation, however.

Getting access to one dungeon in A Link To The Past 2 underlines the fact this is far more similar to its predecessor than may have first been apparent. In fact, in many ways it's identical. Anyone familiar with what is considered by a large portion of ravenous fans to be the best in the series will be well aware of bizarre fundamentals such as hammering down on strange blocks to make a path, hitting switches to change the dynamic make-up of a level and attacking giant snake-like things in the arse. These are certainly elements that could be related to the franchise as a whole, but here they almost feel copy and pasted. Someone with only a passing interest may even convince themselves they're playing a remake.

It's at this juncture where Nintendo's aforementioned intelligence comes into play. It's likely you fit into two categories where A Link To The Past 2 is concerned. You're either deliriously excited to the point where anything set in that world will suffice, or you know of the previous entry due to its legacy. Any excuse to taste a piece of that pie is going to appeal.

It's not like Zelda's creators have completely rested on their laurels either. Visually this is one of the finer 3DS games you're likely to see, the tiny details - such as the mentioned snake's face when you plunge your sword into its tail - reminding you why you fell in love with Nintendo in the first place. The music, an aspect people constantly forget to mention, is as good as anyone could possibly hope for, bringing the themes of 1991 back into your now nostalgic-broken brain. There's the 'merge' mechanic too, the customary new layer all good Link-related adventures need, allowing him to literally become one with whatever wall he's touching. Despite there being no explanation to how this is possible – the smart money would be on it's all thanks to a giant, and frankly terrifying, fairy - it's painfully simple in theory and yet surprisingly apt at creating challenging puzzles. I was almost embarrassed in front of my peers as I was forced to stop playing and figure out what I wasn't seeing.

A Link To The Past 2 is yet another reason the 3DS has, arguably, the best line-up of any console this year and it's hard to imagine any other publisher or developer daring to bring a sequel to such a loved game so long after its release. If this small chunk of the experience is anything to go by, though, the results may appear a little more recognisable than we all were first expecting. Certainly no bad thing, but whether this hits the insane heights of its ancestor are a little more difficult to work out than they were before.

Ultimately, however, if last week someone had offered you A Link To The Past 2 what would you have done? Exactly. Sometimes it's best just to smile and nod...

You didn't finish the ROM because you will never finish a ROM. Nobody finishes ROMs. They just collect them in folders of the HDD that never actually get opened. If you want to finish a game, then you need to have parted with some coin for it somewhere along the way. Psychology.

Link to the Past is actually the only Zelda game I have been compelled to complete. And by complete, I mean properly. All hearts, all bottles, gold weapons, etc. which is something I rarely bother to do. It is therefore my favourite Zelda game, even though I can clearly see how Ocarina is superior.

Even if this release pays homage rather than re-imagining a new 2D style Zelda adventure, it will still be brilliant to replay this game - particularly with the improved art style, new wall ability and 3D layering features. Don't forget A Link to the Past was released in 1992 - over 20 years ago. That's 1 year before Link's Awakening was released on the original Game Boy. Since then and aside from the various 3D Zelda iterations, we've only had Nintendo's recent DS offerings and Capcom's 'Oracle' games, so a return to a classic 2D Zelda is long overdue. The screenshots/videos look amazing and it's just a shame we have to wait till the end of the year to play this.

Another great article. Nice one VG. There's been some great reading on here lately :)

I'm a bit torn on this game. I've not actually lost myself in the SNES classic before. I only got around to playing it years later on a *cough* ROM, and never finished it. When I first saw this announcement I was really excited to think that I'd now be able to enjoy this classic in "THREEE-DEEEEE". But the new mechanics like the drawing on walls to move around seem a little shoe-horned, or perhaps just that I'd prefer to play the original that's so highly regarded.

BUT, It's Nintendo. They make great games. I'll buy it and love it. So I'll just keep my mouth shut until release, then get back to you.

I'm glad that Nintendo brought the LttP style of Zelda. I do hope there are a couple more new tricks up Nintendo's sleeves. The picture Link mechanic and a couple other drawing mechanics based around drawings could be enough to make the game stand up on it's own.

I feel this sums up one of the reasons why many of Nintendo's games are still so brilliant. They don't complicate existing mechanics, they step back and make new ones to sit next to the core stuff like z-targeting or 3D sliders.